Adobe has introduced a new AI-supported conversation engine in Reader and Acrobat - as a beta version. The name: 'AI Assistant'. AI Assistant is integrated into Reader and Acrobat workflows and generates summaries and analysis from long documents, answers questions and formats information for sharing in emails, reports and presentations. AI Assistant makes generative AI accessible to the masses and unlocks new potential from information contained in PDFs. Currently, AI Assistant in Acrobat Beta supports text documents and PDFs in English. Other languages will follow.

"Generative AI promises smarter document experiences by transforming the information in PDFs into actionable knowledge and professional-looking content," said Abhigyan Modi, Senior Vice President, Document Cloud. "PDF is the de facto standard for the world's most important documents, and the features unveiled today are just a first taste of the value AI Assistant will bring to Reader and Acrobat apps and services."

AI Assistant uses the same artificial intelligence and machine learning models behind Acrobat Liquid Mode, the technology that supports responsive reading experiences for PDFs on mobile devices.

Acrobat Individual, Pro and Teams users, as well as Acrobat Pro trial users, can already take advantage of these features. The assistant for the free Acrobat Reader will follow in the next few days. According to the manufacturer, no complicated implementations are required.

What the AI has in store

Summaries of long text content are presented in this way.

© Adobe

• AI Assistant recommends questions and answers questions about the content of the document - via an intuitive, dialog-oriented user interface.
• Generative summaries provide an overview of the content of long documents.
• Intelligent citations: AI and a custom mapping engine generate citations so customers can easily verify the sources of answers provided by AI Assistant.
• Clickable links help users quickly find what they need in long documents.
• The AI feature summarizes and formats information so that it can be used in emails, presentations, etc.; a "copy" function helps with this.
• The AI Assistant functions in Reader and Acrobat are subject to data security protocols; the content of customer documents is not stored or used for AI Assistant training without user consent.
• Users can use KI Assistant with all document formats (Word, PowerPoint, etc.).

AI Assistant has been developed in accordance with Adobe's AI ethics processes, as stated by Adobe. With AI Assistant in Reader and Acrobat, the company is taking an LLM-agnostic approach. Adobe prohibits third-party LLMs from training on Adobe customer data. Reader and Acrobat customers will be able to use the functions of AI Assistant via an additional subscription as soon as it is out of the beta phase.